It may come as a surprise to learn that 34% of security practitioners are in the dark about how many SaaS applications are deployed in their organizations. And it’s no wonder—the recent AppOmni 2024 State of SaaS Security Report reveals that only 15% of organizations centralize SaaS security within their cybersecurity teams. These statistics not only highlight a critical security blind spot, they also point to the fact that organizational culture is often overlooked as a driving factor behind these risks. As SaaS environments become more decentralized, the lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities is leaving companies exposed.
Most security teams focus solely on technical matters, often overlooking how their company’s culture—its everyday practices, attitudes, and default policy enforcement processes—shapes their organization’s security posture. Overconfidence, unclear responsibilities, and a lack of continuous monitoring can lead to SaaS security breaches. Let’s examine why building a culture that values shared responsibility and proactive security is crucial.
The Role of Culture in SaaS Security
Decentralized SaaS app procurement has completely changed the game for many organizations. Business units are now free to choose and adopt the tools they need to stay agile and drive business goals, but
with this freedom comes an enormous challenge: keeping security practices consistent and effective across the board.
The Risks of Autonomy Without Oversight
Business units are often laser-focused on speed and innovation, which means security often takes a back seat. On the other side, security teams are left trying to keep up with a vast and ever-changing landscape of SaaS applications they didn’t have a say in choosing. The resulting disconnect can create a culture where security isn’t prioritized or worse, is viewed as an obstacle that slows down business initiatives and operations.
What often follows is an environment where vulnerabilities can thrive. Autonomy boosts productivity, but without coordinated security oversight it also brings serious risks. Rolling out new tools quickly without thorough reviews can weaken security controls and allow potential threats to go unnoticed.
The Real-World Consequences
The AppOmni survey of 644 security decision-makers and managers worldwide indicates that 31% say their organizations suffered a data breach—up five points from the year before. This surge in breaches could very well be tied to the culture of SaaS security. The 2023 Snowflake breach, for example, was caused by customers failing to implement secure two-factor authentication to secure their production environments. The massive supply chain breach at Sisense, a business intelligence (BI) and data analytics platform provider, points to the dangers of not properly securing SaaS ecosystems accessed by third parties.
In both cases, because of decentralized adoption, there was a lack of visibility and control over third-party integrations that led to major data exposures. These incidents drive home the need for a security-first culture that extends throughout the entire organization—not just within IT.
Creating a security-conscious culture isn’t just about setting up policies; it’s about changing mindsets. Business units need to understand the importance of security and get security teams involved early on when choosing new tools. At the same time, security teams should work proactively with business units and offer guidance that supports innovation rather than hinders it. Bridging this gap between autonomy and security is key to building a secure and productive environment.
Overconfidence and Misalignment in SaaS Security
Many organizations think they’re secure, but breaches from preventable issues like misconfigurations keep happening. And overconfidence is a cultural issue that can cause serious trouble.
Perception Versus Reality
While companies often rate their SaaS cybersecurity maturity as high, the reality is often different. There’s often a disconnect between what’s assumed to be secure and what actually is secure, typically because the complexity and risks of SaaS environments are underestimated.
SaaS platforms are highly customizable and integrate with many tools, but, without careful management, they can introduce significant vulnerabilities. The AppOmni report shows that close to half of survey respondents say they have less than 10 apps connected to the Microsoft 365 platform, but aggregated data indicates that there are over a thousand SaaS-to-SaaS connections to Microsoft 365.
The Problem of Organizational Silos
Overconfidence in SaaS security often stems from not fully understanding the shared responsibility model. Many believe that basic security measures—like multi-factor authentication—are enough to keep their SaaS environments safe. But without ongoing monitoring, vulnerabilities and other SaaS security issues can stay hidden until it’s too late.
Organizational silos add to this problem. Different departments may have varying levels of security awareness, leading to oversight gaps. While IT typically understands the need for continuous monitoring, business units might not see the risks of unchecked SaaS usage, and therefore, have a much wider gap between their perceived and actual level of security.
Companies must shift their culture toward better collaboration and shared security responsibilities to fix these issues. It’s time to move beyond the false sense of security that comes with implementing common security controls and adopt a more comprehensive approach that includes continuous monitoring, regular reassessment, and a commitment to security at every level of the organization.
Shared Responsibility and the Importance of Continuous Monitoring
The shared responsibility model is a core part of cloud security, defining what SaaS providers and their customers are each responsible for. But it’s often misunderstood. SaaS security isn’t just on the provider—it’s a team effort requiring the active involvement of both the SaaS provider and the customer. Unfortunately, this shared responsibility can break down when there’s a cultural disconnect, which leaves the door open for breaches.
The Critical Role of SSPM
Continuous monitoring is key to shared responsibility. SaaS environments are always changing, with updates, new users, and integrations introducing new risks. Without ongoing monitoring, these issues can slip by unnoticed until they are exploited to instigate a data breach.
To effectively manage these risks, it’s crucial to implement a SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) solution that offers comprehensive capabilities. A robust SSPM solution should include configuration and drift management to maintain policy baselines, data access exposure functionality to flag common misconfigurations, and threat detection that integrates with SIEM and SOC tools.
A complete SSPM solution should provide visibility into SaaS-to-SaaS connections and offer on-demand compliance assessments. These features deliver the real-time oversight needed to catch and fix issues before they escalate, ensuring your SaaS environment remains secure.
The Cost of Ignoring Continuous Monitoring
While continuous monitoring is a critical component of a robust SaaS security program, many organizations don’t realize how crucial continuous monitoring is until after a breach has already occurred and the damage is done. Cleaning up after a breach is costly—not just financially, but also in terms of reputational impact. Skipping continuous monitoring undermines the whole point of the shared responsibility model because it leaves security gaps that could have been easily managed with the proper precautions. To avoid this, organizations must make SSPM solutions a foundational component of their overall security strategy. This way, the company and its SaaS providers each do their part to keep everything secure.
SaaS Security Report
As more organizations jump on the SaaS bandwagon, a strong security culture is crucial. Dive deeper into the insights from the 2024 State of SaaS Security Report and discover how to build a more secure SaaS environment.
How Can You Build a Strong SaaS Security Culture?
Because organizational culture plays such an important role in protecting against SaaS breaches, addressing SaaS security starts with building a solid culture of security in your organization.
To get started building a SaaS-aware security culture, make sure to:
- Enhance Communication: Ensure an open line of communication between business units and security teams. Everyone, including C-suite executives, should understand why security matters and their role in securing assets and resources. Security leaders can help by understanding business goals, offering guardrails instead of roadblocks, and speaking the language of collaboration.
- Provide Ongoing Cyber Awareness Training: Regularly update your employees on the latest security threats and best practices. Employees need to know the risks that come with using SaaS applications and why it’s important to stick to security protocols. At the same time, make sure to show employees how security best practices can actually enhance their productivity.
- Implement Clear Policies: Set clear security policies that spell out the responsibilities of both business units and security teams. Make these policies easy to find and keep them updated regularly.
- Foster a Proactive Mindset: Encourage your team to be proactive about security by reporting any potential vulnerabilities, getting involved in security initiatives, and staying up-to-date on company security practices.
- Leverage SSPM Solutions: Invest in SSPM tools that provide continuous monitoring and threat detection capabilities. These tools help you spot and fix security issues before they become bigger problems.
By taking these measures, organizations can build a culture that not only drives their business forward, but also prioritizes security and reduces the likelihood of SaaS-related breaches.
Building a Future-Ready SaaS Security Culture
As SaaS adoption grows, keeping security strong becomes even more challenging. Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, it’s clear that technology alone won’t cut it. Organizations must focus on creating a security culture woven into every part of their operations.
Smart Spending for Better Security
It starts with smart spending. Teams are already aware of the need to focus on cost efficiency in their security programs. In fact, 29% expect ROI on cybersecurity investments measured by risk reduction to be a key discussion point next year. To stay ahead, companies should protect their most critical assets, use advanced tools to monitor access and configurations, and apply Zero Trust principles across their applications.
Security Is About People, Not Just Tech
Ultimately, security isn’t just about tools and technology. It’s also about people. Building a culture where every employee understands the importance of security is crucial. Continuous education on cybersecurity best practices will help employees stick to policies and prevent data breaches. As organizations gear up for the future, aligning their culture with smart security practices will be key to reducing risks and staying secure.
Download the full report to learn more about securing your SaaS environment for the future.